My son was accepted to University of Illinois Chicago, Temple University, Andrews University, Wentworth Institute of Technology and Lawrence Tech. He is still waiting for University of Michigan, Univ of Wisconsin Milwaukee and University of Minnesota. Does anyone have and pros and cons regarding these colleges.
sorry, any pros and cons 
Illinois Chicago is primarily commuter and doesn’t have good graduation rates. I don’t know if they have a special architecture progam.
Wentworth is well-located and is technical, so he may be able to get a technical minor (CS?) more easily - might come in handy, it’s very hard to find a job as an architect these days.
Same thing for Lawrence Tech, but with a less desirable location.
Temple is quite good, has improved in the past few years, not as commuter as it used to, but it’s in the grittiest part of the North Philly ghetto. The campus itself is fine and safe, but you have to be careful off campus, especially alone at night.
UMN and UMichigan are top schools overall, UMichigan is even considered a “public Ivy”.
Are you in-state for any of them?
How much do all of these cost, if you calculate (tuition, fees, room, board) - (scholarships, grants)? Do not deduct any loan!
my son is an international student from Canada. He has received merit scholarships from some of the schools he has been accepted to.
How much does each of these cost, if you calculate
(tuition, fees, room, board) - (scholarships, grants) = $?
Value and ROI also play a role.
Will get a better idea when the other schools respond. At this point, he’s trying to figure out the best BArch/MArch path to take regarding the better school. He would like to practice environmental/sustainable architecture.
Thank you for your response. Why do you think that UIC graduation rate isn’t great?
Because it’s below 30%, which is quite bad.
Is that because the program is very intense?
No, because the students are ill-prepared, sometimes focused on other problems than school (family, work, personal issues…)
Did you take the BArch and or MArch at UIC? And are you a practicing architect now? Or are you doing something else?
I don’t know UIC’s current reputation. However, I worked as an office assistant in the School of Architecture when I was fresh out of college. Chicago is an architecture town. The faculty who taught there were often big name practicing architects in the city. Don’t know if that’s still true. With regard to graduation rates, check out whether there is any difference between the School of Architecture and the university as a whole.
UIC’s overall 6 year graduation rate is not 30%. I have never seen it that low. When I was there, it was 40-45% and that was a little while ago. The most recent number has it at about 60%. I do not know what the graduation rate is for the specific program. I am not familiar with UIC’s architecture program. The most I know is that its building is only half built and so it looks weird. Also, skateboarders like to use its entrance to skateboard.
http://news.uic.edu/uics-graduation-rate-hispanic-enrollment-climb
I believe the undergraduate degree offered at all of these schools is the BS, not the BArch. If your son intends to practice architecture in the US or Canada he would most likely need to get an MArch. I think one way to compare these schools would be to evaluate his path to the MArch he wants.
All of the schools on his list offer the MArch (Lawrence has a direct entry 5.0 year MArch) but the time it takes to complete the MArch varies. If he gets his masters at another university it would take 2.0 to 3.0 years.
When you add up the cost of attendance, you should figure 2.0 years for the MArch. He may get some funding for the MArch or he may not. I’m not as pessimistic about employment opportunities in architecture as @MYOS1634, but since salaries are relatively low in proportion to the education requirements, he’d want to keep debt at a minimum.
I’m not that familiar with the strengths and weaknesses of any of the schools the your son has been admitted to. Among the total list, including the ones he’s waiting to hear from, UMich is an outstanding opportunity.
Lawrence would be more tech oriented; Temple more design. Both are well regarded. Wentworth and UIC have terrific locations for studying architecture.
Questions I would ask the individual departments would be: Where have your students gone to graduate school? What kind of internships are available? Are there travel or study abroad opportunities?
Unfortunately, the CDS for the university (UI C) states :
Only 17% students live on campus.
I agree with momrath, UMich would be an outstanding opportunity, but if you’re not instate, costs are high, so check whether it’d be affordable? Temple and Wentworth would be great choices due to location.
Checking the path to the M.Arch is crucial, as are the internship and study abroad opportunities (are there exchanges/partnership specifically with architecture schools abroad?). Right now, beside Americans, French architects have a certain preeminence (Portzamparc, Nouvel,) as well as Brazil and China (check 20 years of Pritzker prizes, etc.), so check foreign language offerings as taking architecture classes in French or Portuguese would be difficult, and I don’t think it’s possible in Chinese directly unless he already has a strong background.
Does anyone have any idea regarding the University of Michigan vs. Temple University Architecture program?
Michigan is both one of the top architecture schools in the country and one of the top public universities in the world. Its academic reputation name recognition are at an extremely high level worldwide.
I don’t know that much about Temple except that Tyler is generally well regarded as an art and design resource.
I think the comparison can only be valid in the context of your son’s specific situation: Was he accepted to UMich? How do the costs compare?
My son was accepted to UMich, but as he is an international student on an F1 visa, the cost is about $45,000 just for tuition which is too much. He is still waiting for University of Wisconsin and university of Minnesota to respond.
$45,000 a year!
Which schools that he’s been accepted to can you afford? Remember that he’ll have to factor in the cost of an MArch too. Funding for an MArch is even harder to secure than for a BS.
Another option would be to take a gap year and to apply to schools that offer the BArch.